


Closets and Confessions

by bram101_princessladybug



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Has a Crush on Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Identity Reveal, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs a Hug, Aged-Up Character(s), Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng Fluff, Disney References, F/M, Fluff, Hot Mess Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Identity Reveal, Idiots in Love, Inspired by Disney, Inspired by KC Undercover, Love Confessions, Marichat May 2020, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Oblivious Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:34:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26323489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bram101_princessladybug/pseuds/bram101_princessladybug
Summary: Marinette and Chat have been meeting at night for years, and she just may be falling for her Kitty...but who's going to tell him?*One-shot, based on a scene from Disney Channel's K.C. Undercover
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 17
Kudos: 237





	Closets and Confessions

**Author's Note:**

> This is just something I came up with after rewatching some scenes from the show K.C. Undercover -- why do Brett and K.C. have the same vibes as our favorite duo? Anyway, you can still enjoy this without knowing that show. Aged-up characters, only rated teen for some kisses at the end (might lower that rating, though).  
> As always, please feel free to leave comments/suggestions below! They make my day!

“Hello, my dear, I’m here to kill you.” 

Marinette crossed her arms, sitting up on her bed and dropping her pen into her notebook. Her nightlamp, the sole source of light, cut deep shadows across her face and left her intruder shrouded in darkness. “Yeah, right.” 

“It’s true!”

“Is that how you greet every civilian, Kitty, or am I the only one bestowed that honor?” 

“Which would you prefer?” 

“The one that’s true.” 

“Why don’t you take a guess?” 

“Hmm, let me think: Do serial killers often wear bells?” 

“I’ve met precious few, I must admit. I don’t associate with the criminal underbelly of Paris as often as I’d like.” 

“How about assassins?” 

“Only if they’re cat-themed.” 

“Then how about…cat burglars? Do they all wear lovely, golden bells like yours?” 

“But of course. How else can they keep their title?” A pause. “So what do you guess? Am I a serial killer or an assassin? Rider of the night, king of the shadows…every civilian my enemy, or you my only target and hope for redemption?” 

“Honestly, both options are pretty creepy.” 

“That’s fair,” acquiesced Chat as he dropped through her always-unlocked trapdoor, straight onto her bed, where Marinette had been working on her newest fashion design. She squealed as he landed on her, and she furiously shoved him away, accidentally dropping her notebook over the side of her bed in the process. 

Spurred on by her anger, Chat laughed and pushed her lightly back, a competitive flash in his eyes. Grinning, Marinette shoved him again, using her full body to try to overpower him, and soon the two were wrestling amid Chat’s laughs and Marinette’s shrieks. 

“You arrogant Kitty!” 

“You hostile Princess!” 

“Why are you even fighting me? I’m the innocent civilian!” 

“Why are _you_ even fighting _me_? I’m the all-powerful superhero!” Chat proclaimed, moving away for a moment to pose with his chest puffed out. Marinette threw back her head and laughed before raising an accusatory finger at him. 

“All-powerful? I have my doubts about that one,” she teased, poking his nose, before he tackled her again, pillows flying. 

“You didn’t answer my question,” he replied, his lips inches from hers as he fumbled to gain the upper hand. 

“Well, does your question require a response?" she whispered back ferociously. "You tried to scare me! In the middle of the night! Of course I’m gonna fight back. How about you?” 

“You pushed me!” 

“Okay, but you LANDED on me!” 

Chat scoffed before continuing his fight with Marinette. However, thanks to his Miraculous-enhanced strength, he finally managed to pin her. Green eyes glowing in the dark, he leaned over toward her ear. Marinette shivered involuntarily, trying not to think about his claws digging into her fingers or his body lightly pressed down against hers. 

“How about this?” he whispered, breath tickling her ear. “I only _pin down_ my favorite civilians.” 

“And then threaten to kill the rest?” retorted Marinette, breathless as she tried to shake her bangs out of her eyes, moonlight turning her hair near-silver. Caught off guard by her beauty, Chat could only stare down at her, stunned. Had she always looked so wonderful with those little sparks glowing in her eyes, sparks that darkness or shadows could never dim? 

Marinette smirked, oblivious to his appraisal of her. “What’s the matter, Chat?” she taunted, licking her lips as she tried to lean closer. “Cat got your tongue?” 

He smirked back. “Why do care about my tongue, Princess?” 

Marinette raised an eyebrow and nudged him off of her. He rolled away smoothly, sitting on his knees, hands in his lap like an obedient schoolboy. 

“Why are you here, Kitty?” Marinette finally asked, seating herself on the bed next to him and rearranging her pillows. 

“For the pleasure of your company, of course.” Marinette rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to make a rebuttal, but Chat smoothly cut in. “So what are you designing tonight, Purr-incess?” Without waiting for Marinette’s response, he leaned over to pick up her notebook from the floor. 

Marinette dived to try to beat him, but he quickly snatched up the notebook and held it above his head, using his height to his advantage, and held a finger in front of Marinette’s nose as she tried to swipe it from him. “Ah ah ah,” he teased. “Allow the cat to catch the prey first, hmm?” 

Marinette sighed, pretending to be exasperated, and moved off the bed, leaving Chat sitting on top of her bedspread as he paged through her notebook with a smile ghosting across his face. 

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you never to touch a lady’s purse?” Marinette accused. 

“This is a notebook,” he pointed out. 

“Clever Kitty,” she said with a smirk and reached over to pat his head, rubbing the spot just behind his cat ears, exactly the way he liked it. “But that’s the kind of notebook that goes in a purse. A _private_ notebook,” she reprimanded, arching her eyebrows at him. 

But both she and Chat knew that her comment had no real weight behind it. She had let him into her notebook and her room and her life and her nights far too long ago to stop now. In fact, to her growing surprise, she was now beginning to…look forward to his near-nightly tap on the door. She didn’t want him to stop visiting her. And, no, she didn’t want to think too hard about that, thank you very much. 

“Your design looks beautiful,” Chat complimented. “I love it! And the green paw prints on the edges – a reference to me?” 

Marinette giggled. “Well, I hope you like it – the whole thing’s a gift for you!” 

“A scarf! My Marinette is going to make me a scarf! With green fringe and paw prints!” he squealed, elated. "Do you often make scarves for your friends?” 

She smiled, walking to her pink desk chair. Seating herself, she began to spin around in circles, staring dreamily at the ceiling. “Once,” she replied vaguely. “But I ended up not telling him it was a gift from me.” 

Meanwhile, Adrien noticed a stylized “M” in the corner of the scarf design – an “M” he had seen before. Feeling a sense of foreboding prickle through him, he lifted his eyes from the page to watch Marinette spin. “Why-why didn’t you tell him?” 

She sighed. “It made him happier to think it wasn’t from me.” 

Chat jolted up from the bed and tossed the notebook onto Marinette’s nightstand. “I’m sure that’s not true! He would have loved to know it was from you, or he doesn’t deserve your time or attention,” Chat growled, crossing his arms across his chest. 

Surprised at Chat’s emotional outburst, Marinette stopped her spinning. “What? No! He’s—he’s great and wonderful and kind. He does deserve my time and attention – w-what’s gotten into you?” she asked, rising from her chair, hands on her hips. “Is everything all right?” she added in a softer tone, seeing the glimmer of tears in Chat’s eyes. 

Chat turned away. “Who is he?” he asked quietly. “Tell me who he is so I can know he’s worth it.” 

Marinette’s hands clenched into tighter fists. “He’s worth it.” 

“Tell me, please.” 

She opened her mouth to negate his wish, but the open longing and desperation in Chat’s voice made her change her mind. She couldn’t tell Chat about her love as Ladybug, but she could tell him as Marinette. Initially, she hadn’t wanted to burden him, had avoided saying his name – even Chat had dropped the topic initially, respecting her privacy, but—why would it bother him? They were friends. As long as Chat didn’t connect Marinette and Ladybug together, the information would remain secret and her alter ego’s love life would be safe. 

“His name’s Adrien,” she confessed, and her eyes lit up as she said his name. “He’s wonderful! I mean, I’ve told you about him already, tons of times, you know, my ‘crush,’ and well, yeah. Adrien’s who I’ve been talking about. I trust him with my gift—with everything.” She shifted away from Chat, her throat suddenly clogged with unshed tears of sympathy. “I’ve wanted to help him so many times. I can tell there’s darkness inside of him, darkness that wants to be let out. He’s the light for so many people, for me, especially – how can I not want to create light for him? If only just once? He deserves—deserves to think that his father cares about him and made him the scarf. He doesn’t need to know it was from me.” 

Furiously, Chat swiped at his eyes. Of course, his father had lied. And of course, the ever-wonderful, kind Marinette had tried to protect him, to shield him from the truth. “I doubt you’ve only created light for him once, Princess.” 

Marinette’s lashes shifted as she blinked softly at the floor, smiling as if reminiscing about something. “I’m not so sure, and I doubt your flattery would change my mind.” 

“But he deserves to know,” Chat murmured, voice breaking. “He deserves to know how awful his father is. And how kind you are.” 

Marinette looked up, and their gazes entangled. Chat felt he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. Her lovely eyes were sapping him of oxygen, even as her gaze instilled him with strength – the power of love. 

“And,” Chat added, even more quietly, voice barely above a rough whisper. “He deserves to know how much you care about him.” 

Marinette shook her head, looking away and breaking their connection with a snap. “He loves someone else.” 

Chat walked over to her and took her hand, pressing it to his lips. “Then, he’s a fool and he’s lying to himself,” he murmured into her fingers. “Tell him what you told me, and he’ll come around. He’ll—” 

“And,” Marinette interrupted, voice dropping as she looked back into Chat’s eyes. “I—I think that I—I don’t…that I—it’s complicated, Chat. I mean, I’ve started obsessing over, uh, over someone else, too—” 

“Marinette!” Sabine Cheng’s amused voice broke through the duo’s connection from downstairs, and Marinette dropped Chat’s hand like it was hot, quickly pulling away from his grasp. “Marinette! Alya’s here to see you! Says she’s—” 

“Girl! Girl, you are not going to believe the footage I got from today’s akuma! I know you kept saying I was too close, but the video–” 

Marinette’s eyes popped wide in horror; her previous mood was shattered completely. “Uh, Alya, w-wait a minute! I need to clean up, and put away some…things,” she called, gaze drifting over to Chat, who flexed his biceps and winked at her. “Unimportant things,” she snarled at him in a whisper, and Chat pretended to pout at her in reply. 

Marinette rolled her eyes at Chat’s antics and grabbed his arm, tugging him to the trapdoor with a vengeance. Chat pretended to resist her ministrations, but Marinette pointed at the door angrily, her fierce blue glare scaring the cat-hero, much as Ladybug’s own gaze would do. Now a bit nervous, he quickly began to comply with her mimed instructions, climbing onto her bed to unlatch the door. 

“Things?” queried Alya, clambering up the stairs. “I’ve been in your room a thousand times, Mari, and I’ve seen it look like a bomb exploded in there. Really, I think I can handle it, whatever it is.” 

“Uh, well, just wait—” Marinette yelled back, panicked. Alya was much closer than she’d initially expected; she would hear the trapdoor open! Yanking Chat away from the trapdoor just as he reached to open it, causing him to totter on his feet and nearly fall on top of her, Marinette pulled him toward her closet door with all her strength. 

“I’m almost here!” panted Alya. “God, running up these stairs must keep you in grade A shape, girl.” 

“But I’ve just gotta clean up some things that I was doing—” she cried, shoving Chat into the closet faster than he could react. 

“Well, I guess you’re just gonna have to show me those things then, huh?” Alya parried back with a chuckle, reaching to open Marinette’s door. Above her, she could hear the frantic footsteps of her always-stressed bestie. Picturing a flailing Marinette cleaning up whatever fashion project she was working on at the moment, Alya giggled as she climbed up the final staircase. 

“I’m here!” she sang out, popping her head through the floor

“Alya!” Marinette said as she leapt up from the bed where she’d been sketching and dashed over to catch her best friend in a huge hug. “How are you?” 

Alya smiled and hugged her friend back, before taking a step back to assess her friend’s appearance. “You look…spazzy.” 

Marinette waved her hands around wildly, making her friend laugh. “Oh, you know me! Just got a design on the brain, but I want to surprise you with it, so don’t look in my closet! Ha!” Her eyes were stretched wide, as if trying to convince not only Alya but herself. 

Alya raised an eyebrow, her journalist senses kicking in. “Is the design in your head or really in your closet?” she tested. 

“A bit of both!” Marinette giggled, hands folded behind her back. “You know how I get – ideas everywhere!” 

“Well, I do know how you get, but I want to be the first one to see this design of yours!” Alya teased, poking Marinette in the side. 

Marinette nodded adamantly. “You’ll be the first to know,” she promised. “Once I get it to look good,” she muttered, cutting a glare over to the closet door. 

Alya, however, was too busy tapping on her phone to notice. “I’ve got it here – my newest video!” she squealed, flipping around the phone screen to show Marinette. “It’s Ladybug and Chat Noir, and look how close they’re standing! And here, look – Chat Noir is leaning in to kiss her hand, like he always does—” 

“That flirt!” interrupted Marinette hotly. 

“A cute, genuine flirt! C’mon Marinette, why aren’t you team LadyNoir?” protested Alya. “Anyway, so look, Chat’s leaning in, and Ladybug, instead of pushing him away – she blushes and accepts his kiss! And he looks so happy!” Alya cooed. “She is definitely, definitely in love with him! Hmm…I wonder what changed between them; she used to never accept his affection like this.” 

Shooting another glare at the closet door, Marinette tried to hide her own blush. “He’s just a silly cat! Barely charming. I wouldn’t say she’s in love with him—” 

Alya gasped. “Ohmigosh, I know why you’re not team LadyNoir!” 

“Please stop with the ship names.” 

“—it’s because you’re in love with Chat Noir yourself!” finished Alya. 

“What? No, no, no, I don’t think—” 

“Yes, yes, yes! It all makes sense! You’ve been crushing on Adrien for so long—” 

“Alya, please—” 

“Oh, c’mon, girl, don’t ‘Alya please’ me. You’ve stolen Adrien’s phone more than once, we’ve created a whole plot with code names to get you two on a date, you didn’t wash your jacket for two weeks when he touched it once, you doodle his name with hearts in your notes, and you kiss his photos every night before—” 

“Alya!” shrieked Marinette. A muffled murmur of surprise could be heard faintly from the closet, and Marinette hoped that Alya hadn’t heard. 

“But now…” Alya continued. “You’ve kinda stopped doing all that. And you replaced all his photos with ones of Chat Noir—” 

“He’s a famous superhero—” 

“Oh, don’t give me that; that didn’t stop you before. And you’ve been mentioning another ‘friend’ for a while now. I thought it was Luka, but you mentioned he had green eyes – girl, you’ve definitely got a type—” 

“Uh, Alya, I don’t think—” 

“Why _now_ , though? That’s the real question. What’s changed?” Alya suddenly leaned in. “Does he visit you at night?” 

A cough came from the closet, and Marinette yelped loudly to try to cover it. “No, no, no!” 

“Because, really, I won’t put it on the Ladyblog or anything, just give me all the deets from his visits, girl!” Alya dropped herself onto Marinette’s bed and propped her chin in her hands with a glint of anticipation in her eyes, as if ready to hear out all of Marinette’s drama. “Does he make you swoon? Does he kiss your hand? Do you guys make out? Do you do the thing where you stammer around him, too?” 

Trying to forget that the last sentence she had said to Chat involved stammering, Marinette shook her head. “NO! No make-outs. And definitely no stammering, I outgrew that! We’re just friends, I swear!” 

Alya rolled her eyes and got up with a frown. “Sure, girl.” She paused in thought, tapping her finger to her chin. “But, now that I think about it, it kinda seems like you’ve liked Chat Noir for a long time. You used to talk about him with this dreamy look in your eyes, even when you still liked Adrien—” 

“NO! Never for Chat.” 

“Oh, so it’s just ‘Chat,’ now,” teased Alya with a smirk. 

“Wha—no, no, you’re reading this all wrong!” 

Ignoring Marinette’s protests, Alya plowed on, waving her hands in the air as she paced around Marinette’s room. “And, you’ve always defended him when people say he’s not as important as Ladybug. You’re always like—” Alya pitched her voice higher, as if mimicking Marinette. “’He’s saved her life countless times, Paris wouldn’t been the same without him, he always checks on the victim afterwards while she deals with press, he’s so haaandsome—‘” 

“Okay, I’ve never said that last bit.” 

“Just the other day, when we were talking about who the hottest celebrities were, you made quite a convincing case for Chat Noir!” 

“I—I don’t remember that.” 

“Okay, well, when I showed you that app that tells you what your kids are going to look like, you put in Chat Noir’s face! I saw you! Don't you remember that?” 

“Kids?” Marinette spluttered, horrified that Alya had seen her. 

“Yeah! And you talk about him in this half-frustrated way, even when you used to like Adrien—” 

“I still like, I mean I—” 

“No, no, this is good!” Alya laughed. “It’s time for you to get over Adrien, and Chat Noir is perfect! And it sounds like he already likes you. He visits you, right?” 

“I never confirmed that!” 

“He must! I mean, now you talk like you see him a lot, like ‘Oh, he’s so flirty, but he’s so nice; he’s so bad, but he’s so good, and—'” 

“Alya!” 

“And Chloe or Lila can’t even drive you crazy over Adrien anymore when they fawn over him – now, I bet, Ladybug’s your only competitor—” 

“Alya!” Marinette interrupted again, beginning to walk over to the closet door, with Alya following her automatically, completely oblivious. 

“—for Chat Noir’s affections! You talk about Chat Noir so much, unless Ladybug’s involved, then suddenly you clam up, and I bet that’s cause you’re secretly jealous—” 

“I—I would never! Ladybug’s great, and she’d be lucky to have him!” Marinette’s hand subtly draped itself on the closet doorknob as if of its own volition. 

Alya held up a chastising finger. “Ah, ah, ah, _before_ you’d have said that he’s lucky to have her.” 

Even Marinette was silent. She had no rebuttal for this. Her hand tightened on the doorknob. 

“Anyway,” Alya continued. “What was I saying? Oh right, you’ve become a huge Chat Noir fan, now, Mari. At least admit that. You’ve got a Chat Noir poster, a Chat Noir doll, a Chat Noir pajama set, even cute Chat Noir underwear—” 

The closet chuckled, and Marinette kicked at it furiously. 

“It’s always Chat Noir this, and Chat Noir that, I mean I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out earlier. Chat Noir, Chat—” 

Frustrated and embarrassed, Marinette threw the closet door open, revealing a smug, smirking Chat Noir leaning against the doorframe. 

Alya’s eyes widened. “—Noir! Oh my god, Chat Noir!” She clapped her hands to her mouth in shock, and Marinette felt temporarily satisfied over her friend’s reaction. 

Unfortunately, that satisfaction soon gave way to embarrassment as she felt Chat shift behind her, prowling out of the closet to face her. He slowly grinned and leaned over to whisper in Marinette’s ear. “So about that kid of ours—did they have a name?” 

Marinette crossed her arms, cheeks burning. “For your information, there were three kids, and I’m not telling you their names, aaand that doesn’t make me look any less pathetic, now does it?” She buried her face in her hands. “Ugh, Alya! Why did you have to go on and on about Adrien and Chat?” 

Alya, meanwhile, was still looking up at Chat, openmouthed. “C-C-Chat Noir is IN YOUR HOUSE!” 

Chat winked. “Hello, Alya.” 

Alya smirked back. “So you’re the things that Marinette was doing?” 

“Alya!” protested Marinette. 

“It seems I am,” Chat replied. 

Alya crossed her arms and loomed threateningly at Chat, who, although he was taller, seemed to cringe and shrink away from her. “And that means you’ve been eavesdropping on this entire conversation like a total _creep_?” 

Chat winced and his ears drooped guiltily. “Maybe…?” 

Alya suddenly relaxed and raised an eyebrow, looking a little wicked indeed. “Then, I think you know what you need to do.” 

Chat nodded cautiously, confidence slowly gathering in his eyes. “I think I do.” 

Alya grinned and hugged the confused Marinette. “I think I’ll see you later, girl.” She shoved Marinette toward Chat and dashed downstairs, yelling, “See you tomorrow!” 

Marinette watched at her retreating friend’s back, now thoroughly confused. “Uh…what—” 

Chat spun Marinette around and pressed a finger to her lips, silencing her, before he pulled her into the closet, slamming the door shut behind them. Once they were inside, he pressed his forehead to hers and smiled widely at her, the joy reaching his eyes. 

Marinette tried again to speak. “W-w-what are you doing, Chat?” 

“What I should have done a very, very long time ago, Marinette,” he whispered. And then he kissed her, pulling her against him. 

She fiercely kissed him back without hesitation, and surprised at her passion, Chat stumbled backwards, knocking into the wall before balancing himself again and returning her kisses with increasing vigor. Pulling away for a moment, Marinette opened her mouth, as if about to speak, before Chat yanked her back in, kissing her smoothly on her lips before trailing kisses down her jaw. 

She pulled away again. “Wait, Chat, just let me say—” 

“Say what, Princess?” he mumbled against her cheek. 

She swallowed. “Say that it’s true. What Alya was saying was true,” she began, looking deeply into Chat’s eyes. “I really do love you. Not Adrien, not…anymore.” 

Chat placed his hands on either side of her face and leaned in to kiss her again. He picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, letting him take her weight. “I kind of guessed, Purr-incess. You’re a _terrible_ liar.” 

She blew out a frustrated breath. “I guess I should have expected that – I can’t stand liars.” 

“I know.” He smiled into their kiss before pulling away. “You know, it’s kind of a tragedy, though,” he teased. 

“What—what are you talking about, my Kitty?” she asked, confused but smiling, her cheeks still flushed from their kisses. 

He touched his nose against hers lightly. “That you’re not still in love with Adrien.” 

“Huh?” 

“Plagg, claws in!” 

“WHAT? No, no, no, I’m not supposed to know! What about secret identities? What about—about Ladybug?” Marinette cried, as she slipped out of his grasp and turned away, shielding her eyes with her arms before she could see his civilian self. 

“Well, considering that Ladybug’s kwami is right there, I’m guessing that if I tell you, Ladybug’ll know, too, hmm?” 

Marinette looked up, horrified, and saw her kwami floating in the air next to her. “Tikki?” she whispered, disbelieving. 

Bashful, Tikki shifted her gaze away from Marinette’s before refocusing back on her. “If you think it’s time, then it’s time,” she counselled. “Also, I fell out of your purse during your little, ah, makeout session.” 

Marinette looked down at her purse, dangling from a hook in her closet, where Tikki often liked to hide out. “Crap.” 

Chat tugged on her hands, and Marinette turned toward him with a blush. “Then…I guess you got lucky, chaton." She began to lift her eyes to his face. "I truly did fall for yo—ADRIEN!” 

Adrien nodded. “Yup. Are you mad—” 

He couldn’t finish his sentence, however, before Marinette pressed her lips onto his. “Just shut up, chaton,” she ordered. 

Adrien smiled as he put his arms around her. “Purr-fectly happy to follow orders, my Lady.” 

Marinette groaned at his pun. “Ugh, Chaaat! You’re killing me here.” 

His grip on her tightened. “Just as I promised.”


End file.
